Thursday, November 12, 2009

Earring Tutorial

A big thanks to everyone who contributed to my Handmade Holidays post! There were lots of different ideas shared and a little something for everyone. I will be putting up Mr. Linky again next Tuesday, so if you missed sharing this week, just come back next Tuesday:>) 
I promised you a tutorial on making vintage clip on earrings into pierced. It is soooo easy you will be kicking yourself for passing up all those sparklers you saw this summer at the yard sales!
The items below are all you need for this project. As I said before, you can get nice sterling french hooks at any craft store. In addition, you will need some small silver o rings, a pair of needle nose wire cutters and some beautiful sparkly vintage screw back earrings.

I removed the clip part from the earrings with the pliers. It's really easy, just pry them off gently, they are only hinged with holes over little prongs, so just open them up and pry them off.

Next, I clipped the bottom part of the backing off. Leave enough to make a loop with your pliers later. I really just removed the hinged prong that made it hard to get the o ring on.

Slip the little o ring on now. Mine is so small that it is a solid ring, it won't open so you need to put it on now.

Now take your pliers and grasp the part of the backing that curves.

And gently close the loop against the back.

You can see that the o ring is at the top of the wire and the wire itself is closed all the way so it is touching the back of the earring. You need to make sure it is closed so the ring doesn't fall off. I use a ring because when you put the earring on the ear wire, the ring holds the earring in the correct position facing forward, not to the side.

A close up of the  back

Now open the loop on the bottom of the ear wires to the side, not by pulling it open and down. If you pull it open rather than open it to the side it weakens the wire and it may break.

Put the hook through the o ring on the earring, making sure the earring is facing forward, and then close the loop on the earrings with the pliers.

And that's it! Super easy, fast, cheap, pretty, and a great way to get more use out of some really beautiful earrings.

I think these make a beautiful gift for any age. My daughters love theirs and so do the adults I have sold them to. They are one of a kind and the older rhinestones have a much nicer look and sparkle than the newer ones.  Enjoy!  I would love to see if you do this project:>)  Will you send me a photo if you do?

I have been finishing up some pillows and I will be listing them by the weekend.  Just a heads up, I have quite a few in the works but after this batch I have other gifts to make so I probably won't be making more pillows until after Christmas:>)  It's sunny and warm here today so I may take a walk and pick up some pinecones and fun things to decorate with. Have a great day!

27 comments:

  1. Great tutorial Mom!!! I particularly love the pair pictured in this post *ahem*... Anyways, I love you and I miss you. xoxoxoxo!!!
    ~Love, Victoria

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  2. I sure enjoyed the different Christmas ideas that were posted. Thank you for hosting! :o)
    Your earrings are gorgeous. Great tutorial! :o)
    Sincerely ~ Tricia Anne

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  3. Great tutorial Kathy! I might just keep my eye out for great vintage clip ons now!

    Have fun picking up pine cones!
    Hugs,
    Penny

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  4. Hi Kathy
    Thanks for the tutorial. You are so clever. I will definitely be on the lookout for some vintage clip on earrings. I love them!
    Hugs, Rhondi

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  5. Hi Kathy
    Thanks for the tutorial. You are so clever. I will definitely be on the lookout for some vintage clip on earrings. I love them!
    Hugs, Rhondi

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  6. How clever you are! I have so much old jewelry, collected from my grandmothers, mother, and my mother-in-law. This will really help me to update my "jewels".
    Thanks!
    Karen
    Ladybug Creek

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  7. Thanks so much for the tutorial. I will be looking at post earrings differently from now on

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  8. Kathy~~~

    You made this look really easy, even for me! I am always amazed when I see all of the jewelry making items at Michael's. It's nice to see that we can rummage through old boxes when we are antiqing and come up with something modern. Thanks.

    BTW, I think that Handmade Holiday is going to be great for everyone!! Good idea! :-)

    xoxo
    Janie

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  9. Very pretty. I saw bracelets at a craft show today made like this. Great idea!

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  10. Great tutorial. Shows all the steps nicely. I had to laugh at your old ACE tools. Mine are the same.... Love the last display pictures.. perfect.

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  11. Thank you for the lovely tutorial! I have done this with several of my Momma's beautiful earrings that she collected. They turned out wonderfully.
    Your earrings are gorgeous!
    Sharon

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  12. gorgeous...I'm gonna have to go on the look out for some vintage screwback earrings?

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  13. Beautiful work Kathy, don't you just love the macro setting on the camera! I'm afraid I'm too clumsy to work on that small a scale!
    Hugs,
    Dawn

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  14. BEAUTIFUL thanks for sharing this
    Blessings

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  15. KATHY!! This tutorial ROCKED!!! You made me feel like I was there with you!! These earrings are gorgeous and a wonderful idea! I love them, thank you so much for sharing this with all of us!!
    Hugs,
    Amy

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  16. Kathy, Thanks for sharing with us. I might even give it a try. My husband ties flies for fishing. I be he would be good at this. He's used to the small, intricate work.

    Have good week-end. Debbi

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  17. Hi Kathy,
    I have lots of pairs of vintage clip-ons that I didn't know what to do with. Now I do! Thank you,
    Patricia :o)

    PS: I LOVE the earing I bought from you a little while ago. They're gorgeous and I'm sure my friend will love them, too. They're supposed to be her Christmas present, but I don't think I can wait that long to give them to her.

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  18. Hi Kathy...great tutorial on making the earrings....I'm so bad with reading directions but I can make just about anything if I see it in pecutres...Thanks from a Dummy.....Sue.

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  19. What a great tutorial Kathy. I never thought of doing this, and there are so many wonderful earrings that were clip on. Vintage is so much fun.
    Karen

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  20. I enjoy making jewelry. thanks for this tutorial. I am going to go search for some old vintage earrings....maybe my mom will have some.... fingers crossed! Blessings!
    Gwen

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  21. XO for this tutorial! I will definitely be making some of these because I already have all the tools and parts. I'll be sure to let you know when I do.....but I am slow to get around to the doing usually ;-)

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  22. Kathy...you really do make it look so easy! I may just try it!

    Do you know how to make them into studs? I guess you need a soldering gun....right?

    Thanks for showing us...

    xo,

    annie

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  23. How clever is that? :-) I love making jewelry....I'm going to give this a try.

    Warm blessings,
    Spencer

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  24. I don't have pierced ears, so now show me how to make clip earrings out of pierced...:)

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  25. Very nicely done :)

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  26. Love this idea because i think it will work to convert post earrings to dangle earrings which work better for me. Thanks!

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